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Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society i
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society i
Israel
Staff for this book:
Sarah Yeomans - Editor
Robert Bronder - Designer
Susan Laden - Publisher
Sara Murphy - Web Master
2009Biblical Archaeology Society
4710 41st Street, NWWashington, DC 20016
www.biblicalarchaeology.org
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society ii
About the Biblical Archaeology SocietyThe excitement of archaeology and thelatest in Bible scholarship since 1974
The Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS) was founded in 1974 as a nonprofit,
nondenominational, educational organization dedicated to the dissemination of information about
archaeology in the Bible lands.
BAS educates the public about archaeology and the Bible through its bi-monthly
magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review, an award-winning web site www.biblicalarchaeology.org,
books and multimedia products (DVDs, CD-ROMs and videos), tours and seminars. Our readers
rely on us to present the latest that scholarship has to offer in a fair and accessible manner. BAS
serves as an important authority and as an invaluable source of reliable information.
Publishing ExcellenceBASs flagship publication is Biblical Archaeology Review. BAR is the only magazine that
connects the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience eager to understand
the world of the Bible. Covering both the Old and New Testaments, BAR presents the latest
discoveries and controversies in archaeology with breathtaking photography and informative
maps and diagrams. BARs writers are the top scholars, the leading researchers, the world-renowned experts. BAR is the only nonsectarian forum for the discussion of Biblical archaeology.
BAS produced two other publications, Bible Review from 19852005, and Archaeology
Odyssey from 19982006. The complete editorial contents of all three magazines are available
on the BAS Online Archive. The Archive also contains the text of five highly-acclaimed books,Ancient Israel, Aspects of Monotheism, Feminist Approaches to the Bible, The Rise of Ancient
Israel and The Search for Jesus. The online archive is available through various colleges,
universities, churches and other institutions. It is also available to individual users through the
BAS Library.
Widespread AcclaimThe society, its magazine, and its founder and editor Hershel Shanks have been the
subject of widespread acclaim and media attention in publications as diverse as Time, People,
Civilization, U.S. News and World Report, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The
Jerusalem Post. BAS has also been featured on television programs aired by CNN, PBS and the
Discovery Channel. To learn more about the Biblical Archaeology Society and subscribe to its
magazine, go to www.biblicalarchaeology.org.
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society iii
Also from the Biblical Archaeology SocietyThe BAS LibraryArticles found in this e-book are available fully illustrated in the BAS Library, along with more than
30 years of articles by the worlds foremost scholars of Biblical archaeology and related fields.
Whether for school, work or personal knowledge, this is the perfect site to explore the Bible,
ancient Near Eastern, Mediterranean and Classical history, anthropology, religion and, of course,
archaeology.
Find out more about The BAS Library.
Jerusalem's Temple Mountby Hershel Shanks
Few places in the world have enjoyed such religious significance as the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem. For the armchair archaeologist, this is as close
as you can get to this site without a shovel.
More information on Jerusalem's Temple Mount
Ancient IsraelEdited by Hershel Shanks
This volume takes the reader through the Bible as history, analyzing the Biblical
text and testing individual Biblical passages against the evidence of extra-
Biblical sources and archaeological finds.
More information on Ancient Israel
Where Jesus Walked DVDHear from the excavators who are bringing the Gospels to life with startling
discoveries. See the compelling evidence at Nazareth, Galilee, Capernaum,
Bethsaida, Qumran, Sepphoris and Jerusalem.
More information on Where Jesus Walked
The Archaeology of Jerusalem DVDDiscover the great archaeological finds from Jerusalem over the ages. On-
location shots include Herods Temple Mount, the Jerusalem Cardo, the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Dome of the Rock.
More information on The Archaeology of Jerusalem
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society iv
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society v
IntroductionIsrael. The very name means different things to different people. It is a geographic place:
the ancient land of the Hebrews as well as a small, modern nation on the edge of the
Mediterranean Sea. It is a people: practitioners of Judaism who see themselves as descended
from Biblical Jacob. It is a hot-button political topic, a homeland, a vacation destination and,
perhaps most significantly, it is the place where three of the worlds major religions converge,
creating a palimpsest of history that is one of the richest and most complex in the world. The
following compilation of articles represents an effort to sift through some of the archaeology and
history of this ancient land, offering a glimpse of these Biblically significant sites through an
archaeologists lens.
In The Fury of Babylon: Ashkelon and the Archaeology of Destruction, Harvard
professor Lawrence Stager guides readers through the excavations at Ashkelon, painting a
portrait of the city whose vicious destruction by the Babylonian army was so vividly described by
the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 47:45). Ashkelon was a casualty in the greater conflict between
the Babylonian empire in the east and Egypt in the west. Stager sets the site against the
backdrop of the larger political and historical context of the region in the seventh century B.C.,
and offers a detailed picture of the city and the life of its inhabitants on the eve of its destruction,
as gleaned from a meticulous examination of the archaeological record.
Approximately 600 years after Ashkelon fell to Nebuchadnezzar IIs armies, another
major civilization was approaching the zenith of its power. The reach of the Roman Empire was
stretching out across the Mediterranean region. With the invasion of Pompeys troops in 63 B.C.,
Judea came under Roman control, and in 6 A.D. it was officially annexed as the Roman province
of Palestine. The seaside port of Caesarea was designated the official residence of the Roman
prefect; it would remain the political and economic capital of the country until the Arab conquest
of the region more than 600 years later. Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Yosef Porath
explores this most Roman of cities in his article Vegas on the Med: A Tour of Caesareas
Entertainment District. As the director of several excavations at Caesarea, Dr. Porath is uniquely
positioned to offer insight into the political and cultural life of the city, and he does so by using
results of decades of archaeological research.
Although Judea was already a Roman province when Jesus lived, there has long been
debate about the cultural influences that may have shaped his life and teachings. In their article
How Jewish was Sepphoris in Jesus Time? scholars Mark Chancey and Eric Meyers examine
the Galilean city of Sepphoris as it was in the early first century A.D. Since the city is just 4 miles
from Nazareth and has yielded more archaeological data than the nearby village, scholars have
traditionally viewed Sepphoris as a cultural barometer of life where Jesus grew up. How Jewish
was Sepphoris? Chancey and Meyers argue that, despite the influence of the omniscient
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society vi
Romans, a strong Jewish cultural identity existed in the community during Jesus formative years.
Through a careful examination of the archaeological record at Sepphoris, Chancey and Meyers
make a case for the Jewish culture that they maintain was the backdrop of Jesus life.
That fact that the people of Judea strove to maintain their identity despite the presence of
the occupying Romans has never been disputed. Indeed, there is perhaps no stronger symbol of
this struggle for Jewish identity and independence then Masada, the palace-fortress built by
Herod the Great that was the site of the last, desperate stand of a group of Jewish Zealots
against the Roman army during the First Jewish Revolt. The traditional interpretation of events at
Masada is that this struggle ended in the dramatic suicide of the almost 1,000 Zealots in 73 A.D.
The fact that these last vestiges of the Jewish revolt against Rome chose death over capture has
become an indelible cultural memory, and both archaeologists and historians have long studied
the site and the existing primary source for more clues regarding the rebels last hours. In his
article Where Masadas Defenders Fell, sociologist Nachman Ben-Yehuda takes a close look at
the traditional interpretations of the first-century accounts of Flavius Josephus, the primary source
that historians have relied on in reconstructing the events at Masada. In a re-examination of the
text, Ben-Yehuda offers a different theory regarding the final resting place of Masadas defenders.
The writings of Flavius Josephus are not just relied upon for interpreting events at
Masada. Indeed, his works are frequently used as the launching point for many archaeological
investigations in the region. Archaeologist Ehud Netzer relies in part on Josephus to reconstruct
Herods Antonia fortress. In A New Reconstruction of Pauls Prison: Herods Antonia Fortress,
Netzer puts forth his archaeological interpretation of the structure that guarded the Temple Mount
and may have been where Paul was imprisoned by the Roman authorities.
Through the archaeological study of Israels history, we are gradually gaining a more
vivid picture of the ancient cultures and events that have shaped modern society. The study of
the past, however, particularly in such a historically dynamic part of the world, is always a fluid
process. No doubt future generations of archaeologists and scholars will continue to add to and
alter the ever-changing landscape of Israels history. In the meantime, it remains a place that will
draw visitors of all ages and faiths to experience this most sacred of destinationsin all of its
incarnations.
Sarah K. Yeomans
Washington D.C.
September 2009
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 1
The Fury of BabylonAshkelon and the Archaeology of Destruction
By Lawrence E. Stager
In 586 B.C.E. Nebuchadrezzar (also known as Nebuchadnezzar II), king of Babylon,
attacked Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and burned the city. This of course is the focal point of
the Biblical story. For Nebuchadrezzar, however, Jerusalem was only one of many prizes, part of
a major military operation in the West extending over many years. The real battle was between
two superpowersthe newly ascendant Babylonian Empire in the East (replacing the Assyrians)
and Egypt in the West. Hebrew University professor Avraham Malamat has aptly applied the term
bipolar politics to this contest.1
By the last half of the seventh century B.C.E., Egypt dominated neighboring countries like
Philistia and Judah (the northern kingdom of Israel having already been destroyed by the
Assyrians in 721 B.C.E.).
During the reigns of Pharaoh Psamtik I (664610 B.C.E.) and his son Necho II (610595
B.C.E.), Egypt moved into the vacuum left by the withdrawal of Assyria from the West. For four
decades Egypt held sway over former Assyrian provinces as far north as Megiddo (Magiddu).2
Referring to this mortal engagement between East and West, between Babylonia and Egypt, the
prophet Jeremiah rebuked Judah in the harshest terms for allying itself with Egypt. Philistia made
the same mistake.
In 605 B.C.E., as crown prince and field commander, Nebuchadrezzar led Babylonian
troops in a critical battle with the Egyptians under Pharaoh Necho II at Carchemish on the
Euphrates River, in what is today western Syria. A decisive Babylonian victory emboldened
Nebuchadrezzar, now king, to move south. (It was to this Babylonian victory that the prophet
Jeremiah referred when he predicted that Judah too would be devastated by Nebuchadrezzar
[Jeremiah 25:811]; the stamp of the battle of Carchemish is also seen in explicit references in
Jeremiah 46:26.)
After Carchemish, the new king campaigned throughout most of 604 B.C.E., right into the
winter when the rains begin, sometimes falling in torrents. Ordinarily, nobody would think of
conducting military operationsespecially campaigns so dependent on horse and chariot
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 2
during the rainy season. But late in 604 B.C.E. Nebuchadrezzar decided to strike at the primary
seaport of the PhilistinesAshkelon. At least that is what we are told in the fragmentary
Babylonian Chronicle written in cuneiform:
(Nebuchadrezzar) marched to the city of Ashkelon and captured it in the month of Kislev
(November/December). He captured its king and plundered it and carried off [spoil from it ]. He
turned the city into a mound (Akkadian ana tili, literally a tell) and heaps of ruins 3
Usually, when an ancient city was besieged, the gates and fortifications were the first
features to come under attack. If the assault on these fortifications was successful, the defenders
normally surrendered and the rest of the city was spared.a That was not what happened at
Ashkelon, however, according to Nebuchadrezzars version of events. For his description to be
accurate, Nebuchadrezzars armies must have advanced far into the interior of the city and
reduced this major metropolis to a heap of ruinsin other words, made it a tell.
The Babylonian campaigns (609586 B.C.E.)Green line: Nabopolassars campaigns (609605 B.C.E.)Purple line: Nebuchadrezzar IIs campaigns (605601 B.C.E.)Red line: Nebuchadrezzar IIs campaigns (599586 B.C.E.)
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 3
The Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon has given us an opportunity to test the accuracy
of the Babylonian rulers account. It has also provided us with a detailed still life of a Philistine
metropolis in the late seventh century B.C.E., on the eve of Nebuchadrezzars vaunted
destruction of the city.
As a seaport (after 11 seasons of terrestrial excavations and 4 of underwater exploration,
we have found anchors and ballast from several shipwrecks; however, we are still searching for
the harbor), Ashkelon provides evidence of diverse international influence. Phoenician Red-
Slipped Ware is abundant, as is its locally made version. (This pottery is most abundant at
Philistine sites on the Mediterranean coastAshkelon and Ashdodand is significantly rarer at
contemporaneous sites on the inner coastal plain, such as Ekron [Tel Miqne] and Timnah [Tel
Batash].)
Cargoes from Phoenician ports such as Tyre arrived in Ashkelon loaded with elegant
bowls and cups of Phoenician Fine Ware, including so-called Samaria Ware as well as red- and
cream-polished table ware, the latter imitating ivory or alabaster. The prophet Jeremiah was an
insightful observer of the geopolitics of his day in referring to Philistia as the helper of Tyre and
Sidon (Jeremiah 47:4). A special trading relationship between Philistia and Phoenicia, known as
hubr, has been inferred from the 11th-century B.C.E. Egyptian Tale of Wenamon. 4 Such
trading agreements persisted into the late seventh century B.C.E., and it is to those agreements
that Jeremiah alludes.
Phoenician (and perhaps Philistine) ships also brought amphoras and fine wares from
Ionia, the Greek islands, Corinth and Cyprus. Elegant wine pitchers (oinochoai) decorated with
wild goats, stags, and geese arrived from East Greece. Ionian drinking cups (skyphoi) were also
on board.
At Ashkelon, commerce and religion apparently marched hand in hand. We found an
ostracon, a potsherd with writing on it, used as a receipt in a room with smashed jars, charred
wheat, weights and a scale balance. On top of this rubble was the collapsed roof of the building,
which consisted of reed-impressed and mat-impressed clay. Sitting on top of the roof debris was
a small incense altar (without horns) made of sandstone and used to offer incense, such as myrrh
and frankincense, to Philistine deities.
This is the first time anyone has found stratified evidence for rooftop altars. In his
catalogue of Judahs sins, Jeremiah lists rooftop rituals such as incense offerings, and wine and
oil libations, in worship of pagan deities. He declares that the Chaldeans [Babylonians] who are
fighting against this city [Jerusalem] shall come, set it on fire, and burn it, with the houses on
whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and libations have been poured out to other gods,
to provoke me [Yahweh] to anger (Jeremiah 32:29). Jeremiah obviously knew what he was
talking about, and we now have an example of a rooftop altar from Ashkelon.
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 4
Carl Andrews, Leon Levy ExpeditionMudbrick towers protected Ashkelons 10,00012,000 inhabitants along a mile-and-a-halfarc. The Philistine citys defenses consisted of as many as 50 towers, evenly spaced alonga mudbrick fortification wall built on top of artificial rampartsmade of a thick sheath ofsand, soil and debrissurrounding the city. These earthen ramparts, known as glacisconstruction, were originally built by Canaanites in about 2000 B.C.E.; they were thenrebuilt in Iron Age II (1000586 B.C.E.) by the Philistines, when these towers were alsoconstructed.
Carl Andrews, Leon Levy ExpeditionThe streets of Ashkelon are mentioned in Davids lament over the deaths of King Sauland his son Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:20). The Hebrew word hsst, however, does not meanstreets but bazaars; David warns the Israelites not to proclaim the news of the deathsof Saul and Jonathan in the famous bazaars of Israels enemy, lest Philistine womenrejoice at Israels loss of its royalty.
The photo looks west toward the sea, along Ashkelons marketplace. The main street runstoward the sea just to the right of the large hole (the 1921 British excavation probe) in theforeground; to the left of the street is the Administrative Center (no longer visible becausethe excavators have dug below it), and to the right are the shops. Beyond the shops, justpast the small hole at right center, is the Plazaan open square. To the left of the far endof the Plaza is the Counting House; some of its rooms are visible in the photo. In theCounting House excavators found an ostracon (an inscribed potsherd) that was used as areceipt for a shipment of grain.
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 5
Egyptian influence, both
commercial and religious, has
been documented far beyond our
expectations. Among the Egyptian
artifacts we found were barrel jars
and tripod stands made of Nile
clay and a jewelry box made of
abalone shell, in which a necklace
of Egyptian (or Phoenician)
amulets found nearby had once
been kept. But there were also
Egyptian religious items found in a
building we identified as a winery.
A bronze statuette of Osiris lay
near a cache of seven bronze
bottles (situlae). A procession of
Egyptian deities in relief files
around the bottles. In the midst of
the cache of bronze bottles was a
bronze votive offering table
engraved with what appears to be
a loaf of bread flanked by libation
flasks.
Plan of the Ashkelon marketplace.
Two baboons sit at opposite corners of the offering table. At another corner sits a falcon;
a jackal crouches at the fourth corner. Between the jackal and the falcon is a frog. The most
prominent deity represented on the situlae is Min or Amen-Re, with an erect phallus. Although not
especially clear from this example, from other statues of Min we can interpret what is happening
here: The god masturbates with his left hand and raises his right hand in a gesture of joy or
pleasure.5 In Egyptian creation myths, divine masturbatory semen provides the initial life-giving
force from which all other generative power derives.6 These bronze bottles probably contained
offerings of actual semen or liquids, such as milk or water, symbolic of this revivifying fluid.
A twin of our bronze Osiris statuette was uncovered more than 60 years ago in a small
salvage excavation at Ashkelon. The excavator, J.H. Iliffe, dated it to the fourth century B.C.E.,
but it is now clear that this statuette and 25 other bronze statuettes of Egyptian deities, as well as
14 other Egyptian bronze artifacts (including cube-shaped weights) found in Iliffes excavation
were contemporaneous with our bronzesthat is, late seventh century B.C.E., not fourth century
B.C.E. 7
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 6
What were all these Egyptian artifacts doing at Ashkelon? Very probably there was an
Egyptian enclave there with its own sanctuary.
Carl Andrews, Leon Levy ExpeditionFat-bellied jars, such as the four largest vessels in the photo, were used by Philistines forfermenting and storing wine. As a port and trading center, Ashkelon was visited by shipsfrom various places in the eastern Mediterranean, such as Phoenicia to the north: Cargo-laden ships from Sidon and Tyre arrived in Ashkelon with goods stored in ceramic jarslike the curving tapered jar at far right and the amphora in front of it. At lower left is anexample of the distinctive Philistine Red-Slipped Ware. The inverted bowl combines theform of Assyrian-style pottery (characterized by a sharp shoulder and flaring rim) with thedecoration of Phoenician Fine Ware (characterized by a burnished red slip and a reservepattern resembling so-called Samaria Ware).
The building in which these Egyptian artifacts were found was in the center of the city.
Three rooms in this monumental building contained wine presses, hence our designation of the
building as a winery. The winery platforms, vats and basins were lined with cobblestones and
coated with smooth, shell-tempered plaster of unusually high quality. The best preserved wine
press had a shallow plastered platform (where the grapes were pressed by foot) with a low rim on
all four sides; the rim on one side had a small hole through which the grape juice flowed into a
channel leading to an intermediate-sized plastered tank or vat. Another channel drained the juice
into a deeper plastered vat, with a small sump or catchment in the corner. Juice from Ashkelons
wine presses was decanted into wine jars and left to ferment in adjacent storerooms. Dipper
juglets and fat-bellied storage jars (amphoras) with pointed bases and protruding handles were
the predominant pottery types found in the winery.
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2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 7
Lina ChesakFine wines probably accounted for a good part of Ashkelons international allure, alongwith products from the interior, such as olive oil. Three rooms in one large buildingcontained wine presses consisting of carefully constructed platforms, vats and basins.Built of cobblestones, the presses were coated with an impermeable layer of fine shell-tempered plaster. At the highest level rested the platform where grapes were pressed byfoot; the juice then flowed into a channel leading to settling vats, from which it flowed intoother channels emptying into larger basins. From the basins, the juice was collected injars, fermented and sold.
We also found in this building dozens and dozens of puzzling unbaked clay balls, some
as large as grapefruits, with a single perforation through the center. At first we thought they might
be loom weights for weaving. Since wine-making is a seasonal activity that takes place during
and after the grape harvest in August/September, perhaps the building was used for weaving
during other seasons. But many of these clay balls are too large and heavy to be loom weights.
The more probable explanation connects them to wine production: They fit nicely into the
mouth of the fat-bellied storage jar, the most common Philistine wine jar found at Ashkelon. When
wine ferments, it gives off gases. To prevent explosions, the gases are released, sometimes
through a bunghole in the side of the wine jar or cask. Of course, a puncture in the side of a
pottery vessel damages it permanently. The same effect, without damaging the vessel, could be
obtained if perforated stoppers, such as these clay spheres, were sealed in the mouth of the jar,
and the hole opened or closed at the appropriate time to release the gases. Israeli archaeologist
Zvi Gal was the first to propose the function of these clay balls, which he found in an excavation
at Hurvat Rosh Zayit, and we think he is right. If the clay spheres are not loom weights, then there
is no reason for us to believe that the winery was converted into a textile factory during the off
season.
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2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 8
Carl Andrews, Leon Levy ExpeditionDozens of clay balls, found in the winery, posed a dilemma for the excavators. What werethey? Most likely, they are wine-jar stoppers. The clay balls fit easily into the mouths offat-bellied storage jars. Plugging the jars during fermentation, the stoppers allowed thebuild-up of gases to be released at regular intervals through their perforations.
The winery at Ashkelon shatters another modern myth about the Philistines: that they
were beer-guzzling louts. One of the most characteristic pottery vessels found at Philistine sites is
a jug with a strainer spout, commonly referred to as a Philistine beer jug. 8
The strainer supposedly functioned to strain out the beer dregs. The ecology of Philistia,
however, favors the production of grapes over barley. The sandy soils and warm, sunny climate
of the coastal plain produced many palatable wines, ranging from the light varieties at Ashkelon
to the heavier ones at Gaza.9 The winery at Ashkelon and similar contemporaneous wine presses
recently excavated near Ashdod suggest that coastal Philistia was an important producer of wine
both for local consumption and for export. Wine, not beer, was the beverage of choice. The beer-
jugs really served as carafes for wine. The strainer spout acted as a built-in sieve, which filtered
out the lees and other impurities. To remove even finer unwanted particles from the wine, the
pourer might have placed a linen cloth over the ceramic strainer.10 The Philistines were not the
only winebibbers to filter their wine. Egyptian wall reliefs depict royalty and nobility pouring wine
through sieves into their drinking bowls or cups.
While Ashkelon produced wine, Philistine Ekron, located in the inner coastal zone, with
its expansive rolling fields of deep fertile soils, was the undisputed olive oil capital of the country;
if not the world.11 More than a hundred olive oil factories lined the outer industrial belt of Ekron.
The coast and interior of Philistia thus formed complementary zones for the production of two of
the most important cash crops of the Levantolive oil and wine. Largely because of these
exports to Egypt and other Mediterranean countries, Philistia grew fat from its oil and heady from
its wine during the last half of the seventh century B.C.E.b
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2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 9
David Harris, Leon Levy Expedition to AshkelonThe finished wines were served in a so-called beer-jug (similar to the earlier exampleshown here). Nothing could be further from the truth than the image of the Philistines asloutish, beer-guzzling thugs. Not only was their craftsmanship superb, but they drankwine: The beer-jug is really a wine decanter, with small perforations in the spout tostrain out sediment.
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The bazaar, or marketplace, of Ashkelon overlooked the sea. A row of shops flanked the
street on one side. The floor of one of the shops (Room 423) was littered with dipper juglets and
wine jars. It might well have been a wine shop. Just outside the shop lay an ostracon, which
Professor Frank Cross has dated to the late seventh century based on the shape and form of the
letters. The inscription lists so many units (bottles) of red wine (yn dm) and so many units of
kr. The verb-form of this latter term means to get drunk, so the noun-form is usually translated
as strong drink; it probably refers to a particularly strong wine made from dates and known as
akr in Syriac.12 To this day, date palms thrive in the Yadin National Park, where the tell of
Ashkelon is located.
Another shop (Room 431) contained cuts of meat, including two complete forelegs of
beef, which prompted staff zooarchaeologist Brian Hesse to label this the Butcher Shop (see the
sidebar The Zooarchaeological Record: Pigs Feet, Cattle Bones and Birds Wings). It is easy to
imagine the various cuts of meat hanging in the windows and doorway of this shop in Philistine
times, much as they do today in the meat-markets of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Without doubt, the most famous reference to Ashkelon is the lament of David on the
death of his friend Prince Jonathan and King Saul at the hands of the Philistines (2 Samuel 1:20):
Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
The Hebrew word translated as streets is hsst. It does not really mean streets,
however. As Benjamin Mazar pointed out 30 years ago, the word means bazaars. The poet who
composed this early Hebrew verse knew about Ashkelon as a great commercial center and
entrept, where news and information traveled fast. Was it the bazaars of Ashkelon that the poet
had in mind? The bazaar was the most bustling part of any Middle Eastern city, then as now. The
bazaar that we uncovered from the late seventh century was probably not much different in layout
or function from the earlier bazaars to which the Biblical elegist alludes.
Across the street from the shops was a major public building, probably the towns
administrative center. As one walked toward the sea, past the shops on the right and the
administrative center on the left, the street opened up into a square, which we have dubbed
Piazza Philistina. Bordering the west side of the plaza is a series of long narrow rooms (Rooms
421, 276 and 287), probably magazines of a warehouse, where produce and goods were stored
before being put on sale in the shops. Turning left at the plaza, a narrow corridor leads to a
square building on the right, tentatively identified as the counting house because of some of the
small finds located there. Nearby were a dozen scale weights of bronze and stone along with two
bronze pieces of pans and part of a bronze beam from a scale balance. An ostracon found there
Israel: An Archaeological Journey
2009 Biblical Archaeology Society 11
appears to be a receipt for grain paid for in silver (see the sidebar The Epigraphical Record: A
Philistine Ostracon from Ashkelon). In this period just prior to the introduction of minted coinage
in the Levant, ingots, jewelry and precious metals served as currency. By the seventh century
B.C.E., commodities were often paid for in silver.13 Prices could be compared using an equivalent
unit of value, such as a shekel weight of silver.
The script on the ostracon is also interesting. It is an alphabetic script similar to, but not
identical with, Hebrew and Phoenician, peculiar to Philistia in the seventh century B.C.E. When
the Philistines first came to the eastern Mediterranean littoral from the Mycenaean world
(including coastal Asia Minor, Crete and the Cyclades, and other sites) in the early 12th century
B.C.E., they probably brought with them a language related to Greek and a script that will be
related to Linear Bwhenever it is found; we still have no sure example of early Philistine writing.
Our ostracon indicates that by the seventh century B.C.E., and perhaps as early as the time of
David and Solomon, the Philistines were using a local script and had adopted a Semitic dialect as
well.
One thing is clear: this large, sophisticated Philistine metropolis of the late seventh
century B.C.E. was thoroughly destroyed. The destruction of Philistine Ashkelon was complete
and final. The Iron Age, in archaeological terms, had ended. Archaeology cannot be so precise as
to date the destruction of Ashkelon to 604 B.C.E., but the Babylonian Chronicle leaves little doubt
that the late seventh-century destruction we found all over the site, followed by a 75- to 80-year
gap in occupation until the Persian Period, was the work of Nebuchadrezzar in 604 B.C.E.
Earlier in the late eighth-early
seventh centuries the Assyrians had made
a serious investment in the West. They
established administrative provinces
where former kingdoms and city-states
had been. They developed a complex
imperial apparatus and infrastructure to
insure that Mediterranean wealth was
siphoned into their coffers.
Nebuchadrezzar probably lacked the
capability of imposing an effective imperial
bureaucracy on these small
Mediterranean states as Assyria had
done.Carl Andrews, Leon Levy Expedition
Images of destruction. Ashkelonsexcavators found evidence of Babyloniandevastation throughout the city: smashedpottery, charcoal, vitrified brick, charredwheat, collapsed roofs and debris.
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His overriding concern was with Egypt. And his instrument of foreign policy toward real or
potential allies of Egypt was a blunt oneannihilation, and for those who survived, deportation.
Throughout Philistia, and later throughout Judah, his scorched-earth policy created a veritable
wasteland west of the Jordan River. Those fortunate enough to survive this devastation were
usually deported to Babylonia.
Philistines, Jews and many others were exiled to Babylonia by Nebuchadrezzar. He
needed deportees to repopulate and rehabilitate his empire after the depletion of its manpower in
the earlier Assyro-Babylonian wars.14 In a rations list in cuneiform, dated to 592 B.C.E., we find
prominent Ashkelonians serving Nebuchadrezzar in Babylon: two sons of Aga (the last king of
Philistine Ashkelon), three mariners, several officials and chief musiciansall deportees from
Ashkelon.15
A century and a half later, as we know from the Murashu Archive, masses of deportees
from the West had been settled in the Nippur region, southeast of Babylon. Philistines from
Ashkelon and Gaza were living in their own ethnic communities located along canals leading into
Nippur, where they were doing business with a big firm run by the Jewish Murashu family.16
Only with Cyrus the Great, the Persian successor to the Babylonians, does the
archaeological record begin again in Ashkelon (where Phoenicians settled; Philistines did not
return from the diaspora)as in Jerusalemc and in Judah, where many Jewish exiles returned to
their homeland.
According to the Chronicler, writing in the fifth century B.C.E., long after
Nebuchadrezzars destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. Judah lay desolate for 70 years until
the land had made up for its sabbaths (2 Chronicles 36:2023).
Before Nebuchadrezzars juggernaut advanced toward Ashkelon, the Philistines probably
felt secure in their well-fortified city of 10,00012,000 inhabitants. They had refortified the seaport
by adding another thick sheath of sand and debris over the mile-and-a-half arc of artificial earthen
ramparts (the so-called glacis construction) around the city. We have excavated two large
mudbrick towers on the crest of the glacis, about 60 feet apart. If this pattern persists along the
crest of the arc, as many as 50 towers may have fortified the city when Nebuchadrezzar attacked.
This fortification system was destroyed at the end of the seventh century B.C.E., presumably by
Nebuchadrezzars forces.
In the winery mentioned earlier, remnants of charred wood were all that remained of the
paneling that once framed mudbrick doorjambs. Indeed, the path of fiery destruction could be
traced throughout the building by carefully observing the crushed pottery, charcoal, vitrified
mudbrick, and wall and ceiling fragments. There was no doubt that the building had come to an
abrupt and catastrophic end. We may conclude that vineyards that took numerous generations of
peace, stability and nurturing to produce were destroyed almost overnight by Nebuchadrezzar
and his vandals.
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As with the winery, so with the counting house. A large container of olive oil had spilled
on the floor; when the fires of destruction reached that part of the building, they burned so hot that
mud bricks and other clay materials were vitrified.
The rest of the bazaar, too, was plundered and pillaged in every area. In the winter of 604
B.C.E., wailing and despair replaced the joy and laughter that had once rung throughout the
Ashkelon bazaar. Everywhere in the bazaar we found smashed pottery vessels by the hundreds
amid the destruction debris, much of it identical to what we saw in the winery.
Evidence of just how far into the city Nebuchadrezzars troops proceeded came to light in
one of the shops of the bazaar (Room 406), where we found the skeleton of a middle-aged
woman, about 35 years old, who had been crouching down among the storage jars, attempting to
hide from the attackers. When we found her, she was lying on her back, her legs flexed and
akimbo, her left arm reaching toward her head. The skull was badly fragmented. We removed the
skeleton to the laboratory of physical anthropologist Patricia Smith of Hebrew University, who
carefully reconstructed the skull and determined that the woman had been clubbed in the head
with a blunt instrument.
Carl Andrews, Leon Levy ExpeditionAshkelons excavators found evidence of Babylonian devastation throughout the city. Themost disturbing sign of the invaders ferocity, however, lay in one of the bazaars shops:the skeleton of a 35-year-old woman, who had sought to hide from her attackers amongthe shops large storage jars. Lying on her back with her legs recoiled in terror, she liftedher left arm up to her head, as if to ward off a blow. The physical anthropologist whoexamined this skeleton determined that the woman had been clubbed in the head with ablunt instrument.
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Ashkelon is silenced, wailed the prophet Jeremiah at the destruction of Israels arch enemy;
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines (Jeremiah 47:5, 4).
After destroying Philistine Ashkelon, Nebuchadrezzar moved on to the inland Philistine
city of Ekron (Tel Miqne), which is being excavated by a joint Israeli-American team headed by
Hebrew University professor Trude Dothan and the director of the W.F. Albright School of
Archaeological Research, Seymour Gitin. The devastation of Ekron at the hands of
Nebuchadrezzar in 603 B.C.E. (or perhaps in 601 B.C.E.) has left an incredible yield of material
remains, including thousands of whole or restorable pots, animal bones and a rich array of small
finds, including several Egyptian objects.
During the seventh century B.C.E., the kings of Judah vacillated between Egypt and
Babylonia half a dozen times or more. Ashkelon and Ekron cast their lots with Egypt. Although
Nebuchadrezzar never succeeded in conquering Egypt itself, he was nevertheless able to reduce
Egypts actual and potential allies and client-states to rubble.d Eventually, the pro-Egyptian policy
of Judah (against the counsel of Jeremiah) led to the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah in 586
B.C.E. The First Temple period was at an end.
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Vegas on the MedA Tour of Caesareas Entertainment District
By Yosef Porath
Photo by Aaron LevinThe elegant 5,000-seat theater at Caesarea, once the capital of Roman Palestine, was oneof many public entertainment buildings concentrated in the center of town.
What city was the official residence of the Roman prefect after Judea came under direct rule byRome beginning in 6 C.E.?
What city was designated as capital of the Roman province of Judea after the Romans destroyedJerusalem in 70 C.E?
What city was the political and economic capital of the country from the institution of the Romanprefecture to the Arab conquest more than 600 years later?
What was the largest and most important city in Judea (called Palestina after Hadrian suppressedthe Second Jewish Revolt in 135 C.E.) during the first to the seventh century C.E.?
If you are tempted to answer Jerusalem to any of these questions, you would be wrong.
And the answer to all the questions is the same: Caesarea Maritima.
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Built by Herod the Great to honor
his patron Caesar Augustus, Caesarea
Maritima (to distinguish it from the inland
Caesarea Philippi) was built at the site of a
small Hellenistic port called Stratons Tower,
about 25 miles north of modern Tel Aviv.
Herod took 12 years to construct Caesarea
Maritima (from 22 B.C.E. to 10/9 B.C.E.).
Caesarea and the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem, which Herod expanded and
completely rebuilt, remain the two most
ambitious projects of the first-century
B.C.E.s greatest real estate developer
(among other things). As two observers
have remarked, In the Herodian state,
[Caesarea] was a pagan and Greek
counterweight to Jewish Jerusalem.
The plan indicates the central locationsof ancient Caesareas harbor, temple, twocircuses, amphitheaters and odium. Allthats missing is a gambling casino.
Herod built Caesarea on the plan of a typical Roman city. The city was subdivided into
insulae (square city blocks) by a grid of parallel and perpendicular streets located half a stade
apart (a stade is about 600 feet). Herods city also included a temple dedicated to Augustus and
Rome in the center of the city, a palace, a forum (marketplace), a magnificent harbor with a
breakwater that would safely accommodate the largest ships and a semicircular wall enclosing
the city. Caesarea Maritima soon became the major port of the country.
Naturally, the city also included facilities for public entertainmenttheatrical
performances, musical offerings, chariot races, athletic contests, gladiator combats, animal
shows and the likesome built by Herod and others added later.
Herod built a theater in Jerusalem as well, but only the one in Caesarea has survived.a
Herods Caesarea theater was repaired many times over the years, and in the second-third
century C.E. (during the Severan dynasty [193235 C.E.]), it was entirely rebuilt. Little of the
Herodian theater survived the Severan-period rebuilding, however, and, what little did survive, is
buried under the later Imperial theater. The Imperial theater continued in operation until the end of
the Byzantine period; after the Arab conquest of 640 C.E., it became part of a large fortress area.
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The map at left locatesCaesarea on theMediterranean coast.
The Imperial theater was first excavated in the 1960s by an Italian team led by Antonio
Frova. It is the largest theater ever excavated in Israel.
Between 1994 and 2000, I led several rescue excavations in the vicinity of the theater on
behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
It was the Italian team, however, who found the famous Pontius Pilate inscription. When
the Roman emperor Augustus deposed Herods son Archelaus in 6 B.C., Judea was reorganized
as a sub-province of the province of Syria and was ruled by a governor called a prefect. Pilate
held the office of Prefect of Judea from 26 to 36 C.E. and his official residence was in Caesarea.
When the theater was remodeled in the third century C.E., the builders reused a stone plaque
with an inscription on it in a small staircase in the new theater. It measures 32 inches by 27
inches. Unfortunately, the beginning of all four lines has been defaced, but enough is there to
restore everything but the first word:
... the Tiberium, which Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of Judea, gave [and] dedicated.
This inscription is the only archaeological confirmation of Pilates existence. The
Tiberium, which is mentioned in the inscription, was a temple erected to the Emperor Tiberias.
The inscription also demonstrates that Pilates title was Prefect, and not, as so often stated,
Procurator.
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David HarrisAn inscription found at Caesarea in the 1950s is the only archaeological confirmation ofPontius Pilates existence. Though the left half is obscured, all but the first word can bedeciphered: ... the Tiberium, which Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of Judea, gave [and]dedicated. It was discovered in secondary use as part of a third-century staircase.
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One of the few elements of the earlier Herodian theater that the excavators did find was
the floor of the orchestra below the marble floor of the Imperial theater. The Herodian floor was
made of painted plaster. The excavators found 14 successive layers of plaster decorated with
colored fish-scale, geometric and floral designs sometimes with imitation of colorful marble or
stone floor tiles. The orchestra (the area in front of the proscenium, or stage) is semicircular, as in
Roman theaters, rather than round (a full circle), as in earlier Greek theaters.
The floor of the later Imperial theater had a marble opus sectile floor, forming a design of
marble slabs. Most of this is gone, however, recycled for construction in the early Islamic period,
either as building blocks or burnt in lime kilns.
The semicircular orchestra of the Herodian theater measured 80 feet in diameter. The
Imperial remodeling of the theater extended the semicircular orchestra into a large circular basin
by the addition of a semicircular area (called the scenae frons) behind the stage. It was used for
nautical games.
The Imperial theater had six or seven wedges of stone seats rising high above the
orchestra. In the central wedge was a rectangular box, no doubt for the governor. Throughout, the
carefully fashioned tiers of seats were decorated with fine molded edge carved from hard kurkar
stone. Unfortunately, the seats were destroyed in antiquity; only the bases are in situ. However,
26 of the assumed 39 original tiers of seats have now been restored to accommodate modern
performances. The Imperial theater could hold more than 5,000 people; six entrance vaults
(vomitoria) led into the theater. The theater has been reconstructed in modern times and is again
used for performances; today it can hold 3,800 spectators.
Ofek Aerial Photography Ltd.
An aerial photo of Caesarea todaycaptures the prominence of largepublic buildings in the citysdesign, as well as Herods tastefor homes with dramatic views. Atthe tip of the promontory atcenter are the remains of whatwas once Herods palace, whichwould have had a commandingview of the city and harbor and,above all, a spectacular view ofthe sea. Just above the palace tothe right is the distinct shape ofthe theater. To the left, parallel tothe beach, is the long oval of thecircus, part of which was laterclosed off into a circle to formanother circus. At far left is partof Herods harbor, with itsimpressive breakwater extendinginto the sea.
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Around the theater is a well-preserved defense wall with semicircular towers. It may
seem at first to be a city wall, but it is not. It is the wall of the fortress into which the theater was
incorporated in the seventh century. The semicircular towers help us to date it. They contrast with
the square towers of the Byzantine city wall.
Herods Caesarea also included a circus (the Greeks called it a hippodrome). Excavated
by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Combined Caesarea Expedition, the Caesarea circus
was used principally for chariot racing, although it was apparently used for foot races as well. We
discovered four lanes in the eastern part of the circus, but there was room for four more (eight
was the common number of lanes in a circus). For the chariot races, the chariots were harnessed
with either two horses (bigae) or four horses (quadrigae).
Herods structure was a typical Roman circus of the Augustan period. It is a long U-
shaped structure with starting gates at one end. The arena was nearly 1,000 feet long and
roughly 170 feet wide. The seating area had 12 tiers of seats, enough to accommodate 5,000
people. The seats were separated from the arena by a wide and deep dugout.
At the southeast end of the U-shaped circus, a small shrine was quarried into bedrock
under the tiers of seats. Such shrines were common in Roman circuses.4 This shrine had two
openings with a niche in each one. We found a Greek inscription in the shrine reading Merismos
[the] charioteer. We also found four marble, human-shaped feet in the shrine; all four are right
feet. Votive body parts are often found in such shrines. The votives protect the power, energy,
might or health of the offerant.
Yosef PorathThese votive limbs were often found in shrines at Roman circuses and were intended tobring favor to the offerant.
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After Herods circus fell into disuse inabout the beginning of the fourth centuryC.E., part of the structure was convertedinto an amphitheater by closing off thesouthern half of the circus with a wall(marked on the plan).
Interestingly enough, above the
pagan shrine was a later wall (from the
fifth-sixth century) on the plaster of which
was etched a person with a halo,
fishermen and boats. We suspect, as so
often happens, that the religious nature of
the site was preserved but transformed to
serve the later Christian community.
The amphitheater was a Roman
invention designed as a permanent facility
for gladiatorial combat and hunting
games. The space in Herods circus was
converted to an amphitheater by a wall
across the circus sealing off the southern
part of the structure. The wild animals
used in combat between humans and
beasts would thereby be prevented from
escaping. The larger Roman
amphitheaters could accommodate an
audience of tens of thousands.
The floor of the amphitheater sloped gently from the center to the sides, enclosed by a
wall separating the arena from the seats. This wall is called the podium wall. In the amphitheater,
the podium wall was plastered and painted with designs of animals and a human image in front of
schematic plants. The species include elephant, rhinoceros, leopard, deer, dog or wolf, a member
of the equus family (either a horse or a zebra), fox and rabbit. Unfortunately only the lower third of
the human image has survived. The man, who wears colorful trousers, is probably either an
animal trainer or a gladiator. Exposed to the elements, the paintings naturally frequently required
maintenance and repair. Three cycles of general repairs were observed over the animal design,
including dozens of repaintings and uncounted retouchings. On the first two cycles after the
animal paintings, the wall was painted to imitate marble slabs. In the last cycle, the plaster was
left unpainted.
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In a Roman circus, he track was long andstraight with tall columns marking eachend. The charioteers, with chariots of twohorses or four, commonly raced forseven laps. Surviving was almost asdifficult as winning: The sharp turns andhigh speeds made chariot races nearlyas bloody as combat games withgladiators and wild animals. Good crack-ups, known as naufragia (shipwrecks),would have pleased the crowd andcaused several fatalities.
A day at the races. An artists renderingdepicts a chariot race at a typical Romancircus. Eight lanes were common toRoman circuses, and at Caesareaexcavators found four plus room for fourmore.
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Built outside the Herodian city wall, the U-shaped eastern circus was nearly 1,500 feet
long and almost 300 feet wide, compared to Herods circus, which was only 1,000 feet long and
170 feet wide. The eastern circus could have held up to 20,000-25,000 spectators, although the
exact number is unknown since we do not know how many tiers of seats there may have been.
The eastern circus was first explored by Claude Conder and H.H. Kitchener in the late
19th century. On the surface were three columns made of red granite from Aswan in Egypt, the
marble bases of which were found only four years ago. An even more exciting find was three
pieces of a fallen obelisk that once stood in the center of the arena of the circus. Two pieces of
the obelisk that fit together were over 34 feet long. The third piece was a fragment of the pyramid
on top of the obelisk. The pyramid would have been nearly 5 feet high. The rest of the obelisk is
missing, but a large red granite pedestal that may have been the base was found 200 feet north
of the fallen obelisk.
When the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) excavated part of the eastern circus between
1996 and 1999, we decided to attempt to re-erect the obelisk. It was a much more complicated
project than you might expect. The Egyptian obelisks that were re-erected in ancient Roman and
Byzantine circuses were all monoliths. So were the ones re-erected since the 16th century in
Rome, London, Paris and New York. The task at Caesarea was more complicated because the
re-erected obelisk was broken, with missing segments at the bottom and between the trunk and
pyramid on top. The IAA appointed a committee of archaeologists, historians, architects and
conservators charged with judging the feasibility and ethics of the project. It took the IAAs
conservation team more than a year to complete the restoration. A special glue, reinforced by
titanium bars inserted into holes drilled on both sides of the segments, assured that the restored
obelisk would hold together.
Because we werent sure that the red granite block was in fact the pedestal of the
obelisk, a new concrete pedestal was created. Now the restored obelisk has been re-erected in
the center of the arena of the eastern circus. The eastern circus was used for more than 450
years, until the Arab conquest in 640 C.E.
Lets go back to the amphitheater that was created from Herods old circus. Coin
evidence indicates that from about the beginning of the fourth century C.E., the amphitheater was
no longer used. There must have been another amphitheater to replace it. It has not yet been
found, however (only about 4 percent of Caesarea has been excavated).
But there is a pretty good guess as to where this other amphitheater is located. In
December 1944 a set of aerial photographs was taken at Caesarea. Studying one of them,
Abraham Reifenberg, an Israeli geographer and historian and an engineer by profession,
deciphered an oval feature as an oval amphitheater. Reifenberg identified this oval building as the
amphitheater mentioned by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus. But the excavation of
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Herods circus, which included an amphitheater, proved Reifenbergs oval structure was not
Josephuss amphitheater.
In 1960, an Israeli expedition headed by Avraham Negev failed to find any stone-
constructed tiers at Reifenbergs oval. Nevertheless, Negev recognized that his expedition was
not sufficient to disprove Reifenbergs suggestion of an amphitheater at this location. It would be
appropriate to return and examine this site, Negev wrote. I believe Reifenberg was right in
deciphering this oval as an amphitheater, but he was wrong in identifying it as the amphitheater
Josephus saw in the first century C.E. If this is a standard Roman amphitheater, it was
constructed to replace the amphitheater located in the southern part of Herods circus, probably in
the third century C.E. Only large-scale excavations at the site, however, will answer the question
definitively.
We have mentioned a place for chariot races, for gladiator combats, animal
performances and fights, and theatrical performances. To this list, we must add the more
elevated activities of poetry recitations and musical offerings. Perhaps it will come as no surprise
that in ancient Caesarea, the need for this elevated entertainment could be met in a smaller
facilitycalled an odium. An odium was typically smaller than a theater, allowing for an audience
of only a few hundred, and was often roofed. A Byzantine historian named Malalas tells us that
the Emperor Vespasian (6979 C.E.) built a very large odium [in Caesarea] the size of a large
theater using the spoils of the Jewish war [the Jewish revolt against Rome of 6670 C.E.].
In a rescue excavation that I directed in 20002001, we may have found the Caesarea
odium. Unfortunately, it had been largely dismantled in ancient times (and then covered by sand
dunes). It was located near the sea about 600 feet southeast of the Imperial theater. The
evidence from our excavation indicates that the structure was not built until the second-third
century C.E., howevertoo late for the structure Malalas describes as having been built by
Vespasian. But perhaps our evidence is of a later repair and the basic structure did exist in
Vespasians time? There are several other possibilities. Because of the uncertainties, we have
been calling the structure the theater/odiumin case it was simply a second theater unmentioned
in the literature. The structure was indeed large, as Malalas had said, but still it was only a little
more than half the size of the previously-described Imperial theater to the northwest. Because of
its current condition, we could not tell archaeologically whether it was roofed or not.
The final structure for public entertainment in Caesarea was the stadium, where athletic
contests were heldraces by naked athletes, races by athletes wearing full battle equipment,
distance jumps, discus throws, wrestling, boxing, etc. But the Caesarea stadium has so far not
been found. It was in the stadium in 26 C.E. that, as Josephus tells us, Pontius Pilate gathered
the Jews who protested against the attempt to admit the signia of the Roman army into
Jerusalem. Once the Jews were inside the stadium, Pilate balked at massacring them and
acceded to their demands. It was also in the stadium that Christian martyrs were killed by wild
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beasts for refusing to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods during the early years of the fourth
century, in what is known as Great Persecution (the event was recorded by Eusebius, the fourth-
century bishop of Caesarea [bishop from c. 315339]).
After Hadrian suppressed the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome (132135 C.E.), the
name of the province of Judea was changed to Palestina (Jerusalem had been renamed Aelia
Capitolina a few years earlier). Throughout its history, however, Caesarea was a Roman city, with
all appropriate facilities for public entertainment. Josephus described the joyous inauguration of
Herods city, which included a contest in music and athletic exercises, a great number of
gladiators and wild beasts, and also horse races and very lavish shows. If this was true of
Herods city, it was equally true during the reign of his successors and during the Roman and
Byzantine periods, when the city was capital of Palestina. Over a span of nearly eight centuries,
Caesarea reigned as the cultural center of the country.
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How Jewish Was Sepphoris in Jesus Time?By Mark Chancey and Eric M. Meyers
Sepphoris is a bare 4 miles from Jesus hometown, Nazareth. So it is not surprising that
the ancient city has become central to the study of the historical Jesus, especially because it has
been very extensively excavated, while Nazareth has yielded far fewer archaeological remains.
Everyone agrees that to understand Galilee in Jesus time, it is necessary to understand
Sepphoris, but that is where agreement largely ends. The issue is simply stated: What kind of city
was Sepphoris when Jesus was growing up in nearby Nazareth and when he was preaching in
the surrounding countryside in such places as Capernaum and Bethsaida? Was Sepphoris a
Jewish city? Did it have a mixed population? Was it a Hellenistic Roman city?
Some scholars characterize ancient Sepphoris as essentially non-Jewishas, in the
words of one scholar, a burgeoning Greco-Roman metropolis with a population of Jews, Arabs,
Greeks, and Romans,1 or as an important Roman cultural and administrative center with all
the features of a Hellenistic city.2 Coming from this context, certain scholars argue, Jesus would
have had more in common with Greco-Roman philosophers than with rabbis or with classical
Hebrew prophetic tradition.
After more than 15 years of excavating at Sepphoris, we believe that this view seriously
mischaracterizes what the city was like in Jesus time. The archaeological evidence indicates that
Sepphoris was largely Jewish, as was Galilee in general, albeit with some Hellenistic
characteristics. The situation in Jesus day is best understood, however, in the context of the
history of Sepphoris from earliest times until the Byzantine period, hundreds of years after Jesus.
So we shall begin at the beginning.
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Courtesy Duby Tal and Moni Haramati, AlbatrossRising 400 feet above the rolling terrain of central Galilee, the acropolis at Sepphoris iscrowned by a late box-shaped citadel (far right) that overlooks excavations in the citysfirst-century C.E. residential area. Located a mere 4 miles north of Nazareth, where Jesusgrew up, Sepphoris was a thriving urban center during his lifetime and in the centuriesthat followed, and many scholars have wondered if Jesus was influenced by the culturaland intellectual trends that prevailed in the nearby city.
Some scholars think Sepphoris was a thoroughly Hellenistic city and try to place theteachings of Jesus in the context of Greco-Roman philosophical traditions. But authorsMark Chancey and Eric Meyers contend that extensive excavation at Sepphoris has onlyconfirmed the opposite view: that first-century Sepphoris was a town with a strong Jewishcultural identity.
Map showing location of Sepphoris.
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The Hebrew name for Sepphoris is Zippori. The earliest major rabbinic text, the Mishnah,
which dates to about 200 C.E., tells us that Zippori was one of the cities fortified by Joshua when
the tribes of Israel first settled in the promised land.3 Despite many seasons of excavation, it is
still not clear whether this tradition is accurate and, if so, whether the text refers to Sepphoris or
another site, Tel Ein Zippori, a few miles north of Sepphoris in the Nazareth basin.4 Two of the
earliest artifacts found at Sepphoris date, not from the time of Joshua, but from the fifth to fourth
century B.C.E., after the Jews were permitted by the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great to return from
the Babylonian Exile. The first item is a black-ware drinking goblet, or rhyton, the lower portion, or
protome, of which resembles the face of a lion, the body of a horse and the outspread wings of a
bird.5 The second artifact is a fragment from a marble or calcite vase originally inscribed in four
languages. The text included the name Artaxerxes in the cuneiform signs of the Persian, Elamite
and Old Babylonian languages; there was also a version of the text in Egyptian hieroglyphics.6
Since the Persians are known to have established garrisons at various points along the road
system in Syria-Palestine, these fine objects suggest the presence of one such garrison near
Sepphoris. They also underscore the citys strategic location along the major trans-Galilee
highway, which linked the area of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee with the Mediterranean coast at
Akko.
The archaeological evidence reviewed by the authors derives from years of excavationcarried out by several teams. The site plan identifies these teams and indicates where theyhave conducted their digs at Sepphoris. The residential area is at far left on the plan.Further right, toward the center of the plan, is a 4,000-seat theater. A Roman villa,sumptuously decorated with mosaics, is located just below the theater, near the summit ofthe city, while at far right, in the lower city, is the eastern market area, neatly bisected bythe main north-south street, or cardo. A recently identified synagogue is located at the topof the plan.
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From the Hellenistic period, we found the remains of a fort constructed in about 200 to
100 B.C.E., when the city was part of the Seleucida Empire. This fort, on the western summit of
the site, was probably built by the Seleucid monarch Antiochus III or his successor, Antiochus IV.
The Jews successfully rebelled against Antiochus IV in 167 B.C.E., a victory that is still recalled at
the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The victory of Judah Maccabee and his brothers eventually led
to the installation of the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled the first independent Jewish state since
Judah fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. b The original Seleucid fort was probably taken over
by the Hasmoneans in about 100 B.C.E.
The authors find further evidence ofSepphoriss deep Jewish culture in thisostracon (second century B.C.E.). Theinscription is a Hebrew transliterationof a Greek word, probably some formof the word epimeletes, which is Greekfor manager or overseer. Scholarsspeculate that it may refer to a Jewishofficeholder. If so, this points to a well-developed Jewish community atSepphoris at least as early as theHasmonean period (14137 B.C.E.).
Courtesy Sepphoris Regional Project
Several rather elegant stepped pools, or Jewish ritual baths (mikvaot), are associated
with this early Hasmonean phase. Although it was very surprising to find mikvaot so early, an
ostracon dated to this same period (late second century B.C.E.) indicates that Jews did indeed
live at Sepphoris in the early Hasmonean period. The ostracon is inscribed in square Hebrew
script.7
The first-century C.E. Jewish historian Josephus tells us in his history of the Jews that the
governor of Cyprus attempted to conquer Sepphoris and take it from the Hasmonean king
Alexander Jannaeus (10376 B.C.E.), thereby confirming that it was under Hasmonean rule.8
Shortly after the Roman general Pompey conquered Syria-Palestine in 63 B.C.E., the
Romans divided Jewish Palestine into five districts and established Jewish councils to administer
local affairs in these districts. Sepphoris was selected as the only Galilean town to be assigned a
Jewish council.9
In 37 B.C.E. the Hasmoneans were replaced by Herod the Great, although not without a
struggle. Indeed, Sepphoris was a stronghold of the last Hasmonean king, Antigonus (c. 3938
B.C.E.). Antigonus was supported by the Parthians (Persians), who had been instrumental in his
appointment.
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Herod captured the city, however, and made it his base of operations in the north.10 He
could well have used the old Seleucid fort as a kind of arsenal.
When Herod died in 4 B.C.E., a Galilean named Judas son of Ezekias led a rebellion directed at
Sepphoris and its royal palace, or fort and arsenal.11 The Roman legate of Syria, Varus,
responded by burning the city to the ground and selling its rebellious inhabitants into slavery.12
The city seems to have recovered quickly, however. Perhaps Josephus exaggerated
Varuss retaliatory attack. Already during the reign of Herods son Herod Antipas (who fell heir to
Galilee), the city expanded and its acropolis was rebuilt. Josephus describes this city as the
ornament of all Galilee. Ornament refers to more than beauty, however; the Greek word for
ornament, proschema, also has a military connotationfortification or impregnable city.13
Sepphoris was the capital of Galilee until about 20 C.E., when Herod Antipas constructed a new
city on the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, and shifted his capital there.
In 61 C.E., when the Roman emperor Nero turned Tiberias over to Herod Agrippa II,
another descendant of Herod the Great, Sepphoris once again became the administrative center
of Galilee.14 Both the royal bank and the official archives were moved there.15
In 66 C.E. the First Jewish Revolt against Rome began. It effectively ended in 70 C.E.
with the burning of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. Sometimes called the Great
Revolt, this uprising often conjures up visions of staunch resistance, symbolized by the Zealots
last stand at Masada or by the fierce defenders of Jerusalem during the Roman siege of the city
in the spring and summer of 70 C.E. In truth, however, there was a very strong peace movement
within the Jewish ranks, which included such luminaries as Yochanan ben Zakkai and, eventually,
Josephus. As early as the time of Herod the Great, Hillel the Elder articulated a position of
nonviolence and espoused a policy of working within the administrative structure of Roman rule.
Sepphoris, like Josephus, seems to have started out supporting the revolt but later
thought better of it. (Unfortunately, our only source for these events is Josephus himself, and his
reports are sometimes inconsistent.) Josephus served as commander of the Jewish force in the
Galilee from 66 to 67 C.E. He was taken captive by the Romans at Jotapata, where he
surrendered after the last of his companions committed suicide. After his capture, Josephus
apparently experienced a profound change in his attitude toward Rome.
Similarly, Sepphoris residents were at first eager for hostilities against Rome.16 Josephus
himself was involved in fortifying Sepphoris. What may be the remains of a fortification wall from
this period have recently been discovered by an archaeological expedition led by Zeev Weiss of
Hebrew University. Sepphoris was the strongest city in Galilee according to Josephus.17
Nevertheless, at some point the city fathers appear to have changed their minds. Rather
than risk destruction, the city chose the safer optionsolidarity with the Romans. Early in the
conflict, Sepphoris admitted a garrison of Roman soldiers,18 which was later joined by another
contingent from the Roman general and future emperor Vespasian.19
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Josephus at first viewed the refusal of the citys inhabitants to participate in the revolt as
a betrayal of their fellows.20 But his own attitude changed after Sepphoris eagerly welcomed
Vespasian and his army in peace.
Evidence that Sepphoris adopted a pro-Roman, or peace, position comes from city
coins minted there during the revolt. Some of these coins are inscribed Under Vespasian,
Eirenopolis [meaning City of Peace]Neronias [in honor of Nero]Sepphoris. The old fort, first
used by the Seleucids and later by the Hasmoneans, and ultimately by Herod the Great, may
have been filled in shortly before 68 C.E. and made into a great open plaza as a sign of
Sepphoriss good will and change of heart toward the Romans.
We may now stop to consider the ethnic character of the city. Since we have been
discussing the ancient literature, we may begin with Josephus. Aside from his report of the
Roman soldiers who were garrisoned in Sepphoris during the revolt, Josephus nowhere refers to
any gentile inhabitants of the city. Nor does he refer to any pagan temples or other Hellenistic
institutions, such as a gymnasium, in the city. Indeed, nothing in his accounts suggests that
Sepphoris in the first century C.E. was anything but a Jewish city. Later rabbinic traditions
corroborate this image, preserving memories of the participation of priests from Sepphoris in the
Temple cult in Jerusalem.21
Whether Jewish or gentile, however,
it is clear that the city was no rural
backwater. It was, at least architecturally, a
sophisticated city with paved and
colonnaded streets; water installations,
possibly including a bathhouse on the
eastern plateau and some sort of public
water works nearer the acropolis; multistory
buildings; and major public structures,
including a large columned building also on
the eastern plateau. A honeycomb of
cisterns was cut into the bedrock underlying
the city. The proximity of Sepphoris to
Nazareth indeed undermines the notion that
Jesus was unfamiliar with sophisticated
urban culture; the question is whether that
culture was predominantly Jewish or gentile.
Garo NalbandianThe colonnaded cardo, the main north-south street of Sepphoris.
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A number of archaeological considerations lead us to the same impression we get from
Josephusthat Sepphoris was a Jewish city. This archaeological evidence will become even
more persuasive when we contrast it with the materials from later periods.
The first bit of evidence comes from the faunal remains. Thousands upon thousands of
fragments of animal bones have been recovered from the western summit of the site. These have
been studied by Billy Grantham, associate professor of anthropology at Troy State University.22 In
the entire lot, there were so few pig bones from the Roman era that Grantham concluded that
pork was a negligible component of the Sepphoreans diet. This is especially significant because
in the Byzantine era the percentage of pig bones rises to nearly 30 percent in Christian areas of
the city. Clearly, the residents of the western summit avoided pig consumption, in keeping with
Jewish dietary laws.
The second ethnic marker is already familiar to BAR readers.c In the residential area of
the city, 114 fragments of stone vessels were recovered. Stone vessels are not subject to ritual
impurity. When pottery vessels became ritually unclean they were destroyed. Metal and glass
vessels could be repurified. But stone vessels did not become impure. Hence, large stone
vessels were used to store pure water for ritual hand washing. (The Gospel of John 2:6 refers to
six stone jars [that] were standing for the Jewish rites of purification.) Bathhouse benches were
made of stone for the same reason.23
Stone vessels haveand have notbeen encountered in so many excavations that their
presence may be used as an ethnic marker, as Yitzhak Magen, who has studied them
extensively, has observed. The presence of more than a hundred stone vessel fragments in the
residential area of Sepphoris is a strong indication that the inhabitants were Jewish.
The next ethnic marker is somewhat more controversial. There is no question that the
presence of Jewish ritual baths, mikvaot, indicates the presence of Jews. In our view, the many
water pools found in the residential areas of Sepphoris from the late Hellenistic and Roman
periods should be identified as mikvaot. This has been challenged by Hanan Eshel, an Israeli
scholar. The arguments on either side are aired elsewhere in this issue. Readers can decide for
themselves the merits of the arguments, although in our view the outcome is clear. But even
Eshel concedes that some of these pools may be mikvaot. And there can be no doubt that where
there are mikvaot there are Jews.
Thus the lack of pig bones, the abundance of stone vessels and the presence, at least in
our view, of many mikvaot all support our conclusion that during Jesus time Sepphoris was
home to a significant Jewish community. This is entirely consistent with Josephus. This
conclusion is also supported by the Hellenistic period Hebrew ostracon referred to earlier and by
several late Roman period lamp fragments with menorahs (seven-branched candelabra) depicted
on their central discus. In addition, numerous mosaic fragments with Hebrew and Aramaic letters
have been recovered from the western summit of Sepphoris. All together, the evidence points to
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a Jewish population in the Hellenistic-Roman period that maintained at least some of the most
important religious laws of the Bible and the Mishnah.
The two types of coins minted by Sepphoris during the Great Revolt also suggest the city
was primarily Jewish. Neither contains any image of the Roman emperor or pagan deities,
although these images were common on coins of this period issued by cities on the Palestinian
coast as well as by cities of the Decapolis (a group of ten cities mostly east of Galilee). On one of
the Sepphoris coins is a double cornucopia (horn of plenty) with a staff in the middle. These were
common symbols on first-century Jewish coins (the cornucopia, however, was by far the more
common of the two). The other coin minted at Sepphoris during the revolt contains only an
inscription, in Greek, with no image whatsoever.
In contrast to the abundant evidence of a Jewish presence in the city, evidence of a
pagan presence in the first century C.E. is practically nonexistent. After more than 15 years of
extensive excavations, no remains of a temple have been discovered, no cultic objects, no
inscriptions referring to the worship of pagan deities. The typical architectural features of a
Hellenistic city are also missingwe have discovered no gymnasium, no hippodrome (chariot-
racing course), no amphitheater, no odeum (small, sometimes roofed theater), no nymphaeum
(elaborately decorated fountain), no shrines and no statues.
We do not mean to suggest that Sepphoris was totally removed from the cultural trends
of larger Roman society but only to demonstrate that the first-century citys Jewish character had
by no means been submerged in a sea of Hellenism. While Sepphoriss economic, social and
political influence in Galilee is clear; there is no reason to characterize the city as a center of
Hellenism or as a typical Greco-Roman city in the first century.
Not until the second and third centuries C.E. do we find evidence of a non-Jewish
presence at Sepphoris. But before examining this material, we must consider the very impressive
theater that was first excavated at Sepphoris 70 years ago by Leroy Waterman of the University
of Michigan. Renewed excavation by James F. Strange (University of South Florida) in 1983; by
Eric Meyers (Duke University), Ehud Netzer (Hebrew University) and Carol Meyers (Duke
University) in 1985; and by Ehud Netzer and Zeev Weiss (Hebrew University) in 1991 has
unfortunately not entirely settled the question of the date of the theater. In our view, it was
constructed some time near the end of the first century C.E., after the Great Revolt, or, more
likely, early in the second century C.E. Several scholars have attempted to date the theater to a
period before the Great Revolt. Some have even sought to associate the theater with Jesus. This
dispute has already been aired in these pages.d Suffice it to say that few scholars have come
forth in support of such an early dating.
As the city grew and expanded during the second century C.E., a new aqueduct system
was constructed. This system served most of the needs of the city, as well as two public
bathhouses in the lower city. An agora (marketplace) was probably also added.24 Coins bearing
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the bust of the emperor Trajan (98117 C.E.) were minted by the city. Coins minted under
Antoninus Pius (138161 C.E.) not only bear the bust of the emperor but also display images of
pagan deitiesthe Capitoline triad and Tyche, who is usually regarded as a city goddess.
The Antoninus Pius coins also reveal a new name for the city: Diocaesarea. This name,
which honors both Zeus (in Latin, Dio) and the emperor, appears on all subsequent coins issued
by the city and becomes the name by which the city is known in pagan and Christian literature.
While a first-century C.E. coin minted atSepphoris shows evidence of respect forJewish sensibilities (see photograph),the coin shown here, minted atSepphoris during the reign of AntoninusPius (138161 C.E.), has all thecharacteristics of a pagan design. Notonly does it bear the emperors image,but the goddess Tyche is also depictedstanding in a temple on the reverse sideof the coin. Moreover, this later coinreveals a new Roman name forSepphorisDiocaesarea. By the mid-second century C.E., such signs ofGreco-Roman influence were on the risein Sepphoris. But as Chancey andMeyers point out, scholars should becareful about using this late evidence toprove anything about the city in the timeof Jesus.
Israel Museum
Other post-first-century artifacts reflect growing Hellenistic and pagan influence. Second-
and third-century lamps bear Hellenistic motifs, such as a medusa (from Greek mythology, a
witch-like woman with snakes for hair). Other Sepphoris lamps from the period depict explicit
erotic poses. A mid-second-century C.E. lead weight contains a Greek inscription identifying two
of the citys market officials (agoranomoi), one with a Semitic name (Simon) and one with a Latin
name (Justus).25
One of the most famous and most frequently visited discoveries at Sepphoris is a
magnificent villa, situated on the acropolis near the theater, which dates to the early third century
C.E. The floor is decorated with a beautifully preserved mosaic that contains an enigmatic portrait
of an unknown woman often called the Mona Lisa of the Galilee. More important for our
purposes, however, are the panels in the center of the mosaic. Accompanied by explanatory
Greek inscriptions, they depict a drinking contest between Dionysus, the god of wine, and
Heracles, here depicted as a participant in a Greek-style symposium. Not surprisingly, Dionysus
wins the contest. One panel shows Heracles drunk, and another features a procession in his
honor.26
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Duby Tal & Moni Haramati, AlbatrossA 4,000-seat theater was first excavated at Sepphoris in 1931 and has been the subject ofconsiderable academic debate ever since. Some scholars believe that Jesus himself mayhave sat on the theaters semicircular limestone benches. But Chancey and Meyers doubtthat the theater was constructed before the end of the first century C.E. If Jesus did walkthe streets of Sepphoris, he would have encountered a bustling city, but one that lackedmany of the architectural hallmarks of a Hellenistic urban center.
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Eric Meyers/courtesy of the Joint Sepphoris ProjectA magnificent villa, just south of the theater, offers striking evidence of the foreign culturalinfluences that left their mark on Sepphoris in the second, third and fourth centuries C.E.Contributing to the mix of cultures were the Roman troops headquartered just south of thecity and the Jews who migrated to Galilee from southern Palestine during and after theBar-Kokhba Revolt (132135 C.E.). More hellenized than their Galilean counterparts, thesesouthern Jews brought with them a greater familiarity with the language and customs ofGreco-Roman civilization.
Dating to the third century C.E., the villa had a colorful mos